


Ilvermorny: Part 1

by TS13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Ilvermorny, Magic in North America, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, no-maj
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:26:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7402654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TS13/pseuds/TS13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in present day, the effects Lord Voldemort, his followers, and the Second Wizarding War had on the next generation of witches and wizards has yet to be fully realized. </p><p>But while most of the world enjoys a peaceful period post-Voldemort and the Second Wizarding War, something powerful has begun stirring in the United States from the ashes of what once were the Death Eaters.</p><p>Something that might threaten to consume the entire Wizarding World in darkness yet again...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

  **Los Angeles, CA**

Violet and viridian lights flashed intermittently in the darkness, giving the dim-lit nightclub an eerie glow like that of a forest during a rainstorm.

Dozens of no-maj teenagers and young adults danced, talked, and drank together, while the DJ, who had been shouting something inaudible over the loudspeaker before every song, once again yelled something that sounded like muffled groaning over the sound of the music and played a poorly-done – probably original – remix of a popular song.

Alexander Archer shut his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling extremely out of place at the popular club in downtown Los Angeles.

The woman sitting across from him noticed his awkwardness and chuckled to herself, sliding a bright pink drink his way. “Come on, honey. Loosen up a little.”

Miranda Hinojosa looked over at him and smirked like she had so many times over the eight years since they had met at Ilvermorny. 26 years old – one year younger than Alexander – Mira had shoulder-length, wavy dark hair and chestnut colored eyes that sparkled every time the lights flickered in the club. Just two months earlier he had asked her to marry him – okay _maybe_ she had asked him – but the two had lived together ever since graduating from Ilvermorny and there wouldn’t be anyone on Earth Alexander would rather have sitting across from him right now.

He rolled his eyes at his fiancé. “We’re hunting criminals, Mira.”

She rolled her eyes back at him, reached across the table to the magenta drink, and drank it all in one long gulp. She slammed the glass down and grinned at him triumphantly, her brown eyes sparkling in the dim light of the club. “Vigilantes can’t have fun?”

He waved a hand towards the dance floor, where two drunk twenty-somethings in matching ‘You Mad Bro?’ tank-tops were pushing and shoving each other while two drunk teenage girls were trying – and failing – to hold them back. “You call this fun?”

She continued to smile and leaned back in her seat. “Watching you squirm uncomfortably is pretty fun for me.”

He glared at her, playfully of course, and pretended to think for a moment. “Can you un-engage someone, because I think I would like to do that right now…”

She smiled briefly, acknowledging the joke, but something else in the club had caught her attention.

“There.” She whispered, pointing towards the back of the club, where a young woman stood up to leave and was closely followed by two seedy looking men. Although keeping their distance, the men – now their targets – rather obviously trailed the girl until they were all out of sight.  

Mira stood up and began making her way through the crowded dance floor and to the exit. Alexander quickly followed, jogging lightly to catch up. She was always making plans and acting on them without explaining them to anyone beforehand, meaning that he was left to improvise on the spot. _Maybe that’s why she was in Thunderbird at Ilvermorny._

Mira pushed someone out of the way and into another one of the nightclub patrons, who, much to Alexander’s chagrin, turned out to be one of the ‘You Mad Bro?’ guys from earlier. The angry, drunken Hulk of a person bundled into several other people, spilling drinks and angering other drunk patrons, which resulted in an all-out brawl in the middle of the dance floor.

 _If I know Mira, she did that on purpose._ He smiled to himself, which he was sure looked stupid to anyone who was sober enough to notice. He loved her so much.

Finally out of the club, Alexander took a sharp turn towards where he thought he would find Mira and almost ran into her as his eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness.

“You never take me anywhere nice.” She joked playfully, nudging him and pointing towards an alley.

Stepping into the shadows, the pair got as close as they could to the ally without being seen.

The men had cornered the young woman, who had her back up against the brick wall.

“I…I don’t…I don’t have any money.” The girl groaned, clearly very drunk.

One of the muggers, who was short with a shaved head and extraordinarily muscular, turned to the other, who was tall and fat with a beard that covered most of his face. “She doesn’t have any money? Did you hear that, man? She doesn’t have any money.”

“Then what’s this?” The second man smacked the girl with – what Alexander only assumed – was an extremely expensive purse.

The frightened teenager let out a frightened yelp. “No, you don’t understand!”

The first man roughly shoved her up against the brick wall and growled. “We’re going to beat you senseless for wasting our time. Do you understand?”

His chubby partner chortled gleefully, and Mira took a step forward, meaning that it was their time to step in and save the day.  

“Shouldn’t you be brewing an IPA,” she turned her gaze from the tall, bearded attacker and to his short, muscular partner, “and you in a gym somewhere?”

He cocked his head to the side and used his most condescending voice. “Ah yes, the Hipster and Steroids-man. Just your typical criminal duo.”

“Who the Hell are you?” The bearded one pulled out a knife and the short one raised his fists like he was a boxer. The two were clearly shocked at how Mira and Alexander had suddenly appeared out of the darkness, but their first instinct was to fight back.

He and Mira made eye contact. _They always think they can fight their way out._

She made of show of unsheathing her wand, startlingly bright in the darkness as it was made of beech wood. “Witches and Wizards are real, and we’re here to kick your ass.”

He pulled out his wand, made of ash wood – common but he liked it – and turned to end the fight before it started.

Mira had already used a curse on the short one, who was lying on the ground unable to move, but growling profusely. So, not wanting to use the same spell twice, he sent a silver blast towards the bearded mugger, who fell to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

Mira quickly walked over to the two muggers and took them by the hand, the still conscious one desperately trying to move some part of his body – unaware the Full Body-Bind curse took a while for the effects to wear off. With a loud pop, she and the two criminals disappeared, as Mira would drop them off in the nearest jail and then apparate back.

He looked around for the teenage girl, who had sunk down to the ground in a sitting position with her back still against the wall. Maybe it was the Pukwudgie in him that looked forward to this part, but Alexander loved to tell the victim that they were safe.

He held out a hand to help her up, and she flinched briefly before opening her eyes and slowly taking it.

“It’s okay. Go home, get some rest. It’ll all be okay,” he assured the girl.

She nodded, still confused and slightly drunk, and he noticed blood dripping down the side of her face from where the zipper of the purse must have struck her. He raised his wand to heal it, and she jumped backwards in fear.

“No, no. I’m helping. I promise.” She closed her eyes as he brought the tip of his wand to her injury and performed a simple healing spell. Not a deep wound, the small cut healed almost immediately. The girl quickly touched where the blood had been moments before and her eyes widened in surprise.

He laughed and helped her all the way back onto her feet. “Now, like I said. Go home, and get some rest.”

She nodded thankfully – eyes still wide in shock – and rushed off towards the nearest brightly lit area.

Someone sighed heavily from behind him – where nothing had been but the end of the alley – causing him to jump around quickly with his wand ready.

“Just a typical Saturday night.” Mira grinned happily.

He smiled back, placing his wand back into his pocket and taking his fiancé’s hand. “So, what next?”

The pair began walking down the dimly lit and empty street, hand in hand.

She pretended to think for a moment, like she didn’t already have a plan. “Hmmm….I was thinking grabbing some sushi and then heading back to our apartment to talk shit about bad movies.”

“Where do you get sushi at midnight?” _I mean there has to be somewhere that sells sushi after midnight, but still…_

She squeezed his hand lovingly, and he didn’t have to look to know she was smiling. “I know a place a few blocks from here.”

As they continued to walk down the dimly lit street, void of any other people, and lined by closed businesses on either side, Alexander began to feel uneasy.

Something wasn’t right. The streets were _never_ this empty.

Wait.” He stopped suddenly, and Mira let go of his hand, reaching for her wand.

There was a slight noise that could have been anything from a small animal to the wind, but somehow Alexander _knew_ they were being followed.

“What is it, Alex? I don’t hear any-”

Suddenly, Mira was thrown through the glass of the restaurant, her yelp of surprise muffled by the sound of shattered glass.

By the time Alexander turned to face their unseen attacker, it was too late.

A tall woman dressed head to toe in common black robes stared back at him from the other end of the ally. Her blonde hair was wild, as if she had just woken from a year-long nap, but the most remarkable aspect of the mysterious attacker was her shockingly violet eyes, which sparkled with crazed joy in the darkness.

There was something oddly familiar about her, but that tugging hint of recognition was the last thought he would ever have.

A viridian light struck him in the center of the chest, and Alexander Archer fell to the concrete – dead.


	2. Explosive Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilvermorny has been a safe haven for Witches and Wizards from many backgrounds over the last few centuries, but now the sanctity of the school itself might be the first target in a rising tide of darkness..

**Ilvermorny, MA**

Jake Wilson was hurtling towards the ground so quickly that his surroundings instantly melted into blurred colors.

The Ilvermorny grandstands merged into a swirl of gold and burgundy as he whipped his broom around and raced towards the other end of the pitch with the Quaffle tucked close to his ribs.

His sleek, heavily polished Starsweeper XXI was considered the most elite broom in the world – except for _maybe_ the Firebolt Supreme – but the Starsweeper XXI was used by the American National Quidditch Team – which was all the endorsement Jake needed.

The pinnacle of racing broomstick engineering, the opposing Chasers never stood a chance as he dropped out of the sky to make his attacking run, exploding through the center of their defensive formation. He shrugged off violent shoulder-hits and absorbed an elbow (or three) to the ribs before securing a free run to the goal posts and a one-on-one versus the Keeper.

A sudden shrill whine caught his attention, and Jake had to make the instinctive decision to dodge left or right based on where he guessed the incoming Bludger to be, as it could be heard getting rapidly closer.

To his delight, he easily ducked the angry, streaking ball as it ripped past his left shoulder and marauded into empty space, but made sure to keep an eye on the opposing team’s Beater, Adam Whitfield. Adam, a Wampus with a cleanly shaved head who seemed to be far too muscular for a 16-year old, was not the best when it came to his aim, but his strength was, well, his strength.

He could clearly remember several times in which an unaware Chaser was sent to the hospital because of a perfectly beaten Bludger rocketed towards their blindside. If Jake took a dead-on hit from a Bludger smashed by Adam, he would probably be feeling it for the next few days, and he  _definitely_  would be unable to continue his current attack.

As the nano-seconds passed and Jake pushed his broom as fast as it could go, ignoring the oncoming nausea from his current level of speed, he neared the opposing goalposts - and the biggest challenge of all.

Amanda Clark was in her late teens, the same as Jake, and physically built like a life-long gymnast. Although slightly taller than most of the other women at Ilvermorny – and most life-long gymnasts – years of training had transformed the awkward lankiness common to those who are tall at a young age into toned muscle. Her natural tan, shoulder-length auburn hair, and dark, chestnut-colored eyes hinted at Native American heritage, something that Jake had always wondered but never had the courage to ask.

Not only was Amanda Thunderbird’s most powerful witch, but she had the fastest reflexes of – in his personal opinion – any woman in the whole damn world.

And what made it infinitely worse is that they had been playing Quidditch together since he began his time at Ilvermorny and was sorted into Thunderbird, too.

No one on the entire planet knew what he was likely to do in a one-on-one situation more than she did. No one was more likely to foil his attempt at getting the Quaffle into one of the three bronze hoops at the opposing ends of the pitch.

With Amanda and the goal rapidly approaching, Jake only had a few tenths of a second to react; his mind raced.

 _She favors her right side, but she knows he knows she_ _favors that side so she could instinctively dive left. Unless she knows he knows she knows he knows she knows_ – the moment came and he released the Quaffle.

It floated towards the far right post in a sideways arc, spinning just enough to cause the initial trajectory to sway a bit and – hopefully – put her off. She instinctively chose the right way –  _dammit_  – diving towards the far right post and extending her arm towards the Quaffle in an attempt to deflect it off its current path.  _But!_   His momentum from the broom's speed and the curve of his throw pulled the misshapen sphere just past Amanda’s finger tips and swerving towards the now wide open goal.

Until it bounced harmlessly off the outside of the post and fell to the ground with a disappointing thud.

Jake yelled in frustration and hurriedly landed on the pitch below to pick up the fallen Quaffle, slamming his boots on the ground as he landed.

He was quickly joined by the other assorted players from the scrimmage above, who one by one swept to the ground laughing at his earlier misfortune.

Still cackling to herself, Amanda stepped forward, grinned mischievously, and hugged him. "That was a Hell of a run.”

He warmly embraced his friend, teammate, and fellow Thunderbird, but bitterly – and jokingly – growled into her ear, "You're only saying that because you won."

One of the Chasers, Keisha Ware, a dark-skinned girl with short, natural hair and deep brown eyes from Louisiana who was in her first year at Ilvermorny and a brand new member of Wampus, cut in, "Hey! We’re going to be the greatest American Quidditch players of all time."

Amanda burst out laughing and waved a hand towards the stands. “I don’t think that will be too difficult.”

Keisha and the rest of the team joined her in laughing as they looked up at the nearly empty grandstands.

The barren bleachers that surrounded the pitch were marked by a few students here and there. Of the twenty or so students present, several were just couples trying to find some privacy away from the prying eyes of the professors, meaning that the actual number of Quidditch fans had to be somewhere around 14 – a pathetic number for a school with so many students.

In the United States, a variation of Qudditch called Quadpot was the slightly more popular sport. Most of the players on the team had actually not played much Quidditch before coming to Ilvermorny and a few of them had little to no experience at all. In fact, Amanda and Jake were the only members of the school’s Quidditch team who were above the age of 17. Quidditch would catch on in America, eventually, and both Amanda and Jake wanted to be at the forefront of the movement.

As the laughter died down, Amanda’s expression turned serious, and she began instructing the team on their mistakes and how to correct them in the future – she was the team Captain, after all.

He fondly remembered the surprised – and pleased - look on her face as she found out that she was unanimously voted Captain over him, with the lone vote choosing him over her coming from Amanda herself. She was hands down one of the five or six most powerful Wizards and Witches at Ilvermorny, but she was arguably the most humble and well-liked.

Her artificially sharpened and authoritative tone cut into his thoughts.

“Adam, if you try to beat the leather off the Bludger one more time instead of aiming it to force the opposing Chaser to change his direction…” Amanda chided threateningly at the 16-year old. He winced apologetically and picked up his broom, desperate to impress the team's leader and earn himself a permanent starting spot on the team. They might only get to play one tournament a year against the other Quidditch teams across the United States, but she wanted to win – they all did.

Jake laughed quietly to himself at all of this, tuned Amanda's coaching of the younger players out, and began walking towards the exit. 

He loved walking out of the stadium alone.

Built under the direction of Isolt Sayre a few decades after Ilvermorny was founded, the grandstands were built like those of a European Quidditch stadium in an attempt to force the popular sport on the Americans. Like most things, the Americans refused to catch on at the same time as the rest of the world, but Boot’s ideals had not been lost on the beauty of the stadium itself.

The sleek steel seats never rusted, the gold, red, and blue of the Ilvermorny colors never faded on the various banners, and there was even a Charm that kept it from raining on the field – although it could rain in the stadium so that fans could receive a “real Quidditch experience.”

Jake smiled to himself. Ilvermorny was a beautiful school. He loved it here. Growing up in a pure-blood Wizarding family during and right after the Second Wizarding War, he had come to the school with all types of – wrongly – preconceived notions about different people from backgrounds other than his own.

In a life-altering – and much needed – moment, Jake had said something negative about half-bloods his first year at Ilvermorny as a joke, and a Pukwudgie named Nathan Allen – who is arguably the most powerful Wizard in the whole school now – hexed him so hard that he spent a whole week in the hospital. At the time, he had been perplexed at why Nathan had attacked him for his comments because he was also of a pure-blooded background – until it was revealed their second year that both of Nathan’s parents were killed in the Second Wizarding War by Death Eaters, and he was raised by no-maj.

To see another pure-blood Wizard react so angrily towards what he had thought to be true his entire life changed his perspective almost immediately. It took a while, but Jake shook off the shackles of what his parents taught him and had come out a better person for it – at least he hoped so.

In fact, Jake had continued to distance himself from his parents the last two or three years – some ideologies should stay in the past where they belong, even if that meant doing something that hurt as bad as moving on from his own family.

His train of thought was interrupted by a slight tap on his shoulder, which caused him to rapidly spin around in confusion – _how had anyone snuck up on me -_ frightening the small girl who had quickly caught up to him.

Keisha Ware, the new Chaser from Wampus looked back at him, a Quaffle firmly tucked under her arm. The resemblance to her older sister Paris, who was the same age as Jake and one of the leading Witches in Wampus, was striking and a bit uncomfortable. It was like he had gone back in time to meet Paris as a younger teenager, except Paris had a powerful gaze that never left your eyes when she was speaking, and this girl was almost looking through him. As if he wasn’t even there.  

She smiled apologetically but his uneasiness remained. _Something wasn’t right about this_.

“Could you teach me how you threw the Quaffle so that it curled outwards before swerving back in? If it’s not a bother of course.” He instantly relaxed, she just wanted him to help her become a better Chaser and was nervous to talk to him one on one, just as he would be asking someone much older than him to teach him something difficult.

He loved helping the younger Ilvermorny Quidditch players. Jake himself would probably never be good enough to be a pro and make the American National Quidditch team – _He didn’t really want to, but doesn’t every teenager dream of being famous?_  -  but any number of the younger players had the potential to make it.

But his uneasiness returned immediately, as Keisha suddenly stumbled to the ground, still holding the Quaffle tight to her body.

Jake dropped down quickly to help her. _She must be dehydrated or have a concussion or something-_ but instead of seeing her unconscious, he was surprised to see a tear rolling down her cheek. Whatever was going on, Jake was going to make whoever did this to this girl, this _kid_ pay.

Keisha whispered something softly that sounded like “I’m sorry,” and every warning signal in Jake’s head went off. Something wasn’t right, and he needed to get them both safety right now.

“For what-” He caught a glimpse of her hand quickly shooting out to grab his wand from his pocket, and a bright light engulfed him.

But the bright light was the least of his problems.

With a scarlet flash, everything around Jake exploded into bright flames, and he collapsed into unconsciousness within the inferno.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jake and Amanda will be two of the main characters, but I think this will be the only chapter from Jake's perspective. (Unless someone wants more, but I honestly think that he's best as a secondary main character). 
> 
> The next chapter should introduce us to three of the other mainstays in this series, Elizabeth Archer (Horned Serpent), Paris Ware (Wampus), and Nathan Allen (Pukwudgie), before we get into the midst of the main plot.


	3. Duels and Demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a week since Keisha Ware died in a freak accident on the Quidditch grounds at Ilvermonry, and the students continue to go on with their lives as usual. 
> 
> But something is yet to come that proves that Keisha’s death was no accident at all….

**Ilvermorny, MA**

Whitney Egan reached out and roughly snatched her longtime friend’s broken wrist to make sure it was set properly so she could cast a healing spell.

As Head Witch of Pukwudgie, she was above this sort of mediocre-level healing spell, but a good enough friend that she would do it anyway.

Nathan Allen winced, but felt the pain subside as she placed the tip of her wand to his wrist and felt the bones begin to rapidly heal.

Nathan was in his late teens, just a few months older than Whitney, with dull blue eyes and the same brownish-blonde, flowing hairstyle of nearly every no-maj teenager ever. In fact, his athletic build, stereotypical “preppy” clothes, and slightly above average height made it seem like he could double for half of the niche pop-singers and internet stars of the day, which probably stemmed from being raised in early childhood by no-maj after his parents were killed in the Second Wizarding War. As arguably the most powerful wizard in the school, he even had a sort of cult following from some of the younger students at Ilvermorny, but he ignored it, and, in actuality, it made him extremely uncomfortable.

She used to poke fun at him for the attention given to him by the younger students, until it was time for Pukwudgie to choose a Head Witch or Head Wizard and he refused to even be nominated. Something about power scared Nathan, and she had a nagging feeling that it had to do with however his parents died.

She smiled to herself. _So I became Head Witch._

“You’ve been trying difficult spells without speaking again,” she scolded sarcastically, only half-joking. Nathan was more than capable of performing wordless spells, but he was always trying to prove himself by doing something more, and it was going to get him killed.

“Water is wet. The sky is blue. Voldemort was ugly. But I appreciate you fixing my arm.” He held up his wrist to the light as if it was a counterfeit bill. “It even looks like the real thing.”

She let out a frustrated half-laugh, half-sigh. “How can you be the most powerful wizard in Pukwudgie – arguably the best in the whole school – and you can’t perform a simple healing spell? It’s one of the easiest spells that there is…”

Nathan Allen rolled his eyes. “I’m not the best wizard in the school, Elizabeth is, plus-” He pointed his wand at the nearby table and cast a charm. “ _Avis.”_

A small finch appeared out of the tip of his wand and hopped onto the table. It tapped across the wood until it noticed the open door, peeped gleefully, and took flight.

There was a startled yelp from the hallway, as one of the other Pukwudgie students must have been caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of the small flying creature.

“I can do that.” He shrugged. “You’re not healed, but here’s a bird.”

She rolled her eyes, but let out a laugh. “Yes, and I’m sure you can do all sorts of other difficult and spectacular spells. Hopefully, you forget them all by the tournament tomorrow, though.”

“Why?” He said, still marveling at his healed wrist.”

“Because I’ve got money on Elizabeth to beat you in the final.”

Head Witch of Horned Serpent, Elizabeth Archer was the most powerful witch in the school and would undoubtedly be the most powerful witch in America one day. The things she could do with magic were borderline unbelievable, and the quickness with which she learned was unparalleled.

_She’s gorgeous, too._ The voice in her head chimed in.

“I would have money on her over me, too.” Nathan replied. “But I would put my money on me over you in the semi-finals…”

She scoffed. “ _Please,_ I might not even make it to the semi-finals. I have to get through like three rounds before that. Everybody already knows that you and Elizabeth will make the finals. _Again_.”

“And Elizabeth will beat me. _Again_.” He replied with fake bitterness. She knew he could care less about the yearly tournament, but knew how much it meant to Pukwudgie for their best Witches and Wizards to compete.

She smiled warmly and put on an artificially, singsong voice. “ _You know…._ since you’re already going to lose and all, you could let me win. There’s this very pretty Thunderbird girl coming to watch me tomorrow, and I want to make a good first impression.”

“That Thunderbird girl with the blue streak in her hair? The one who makes all that art?” He questioned.

“Her _name_ is Mariah. And it’s not “that art,” it’s graphic design.” Mariah had just recently gotten an internship with one of the top advertising agencies in New York and was mulling over going to no-maj college rather than getting a magical career. Whitney had gone on one date with her that she though went well, but she was nervous that there might not be a second one.

Nathan put up his hands in mock surrender. “Woah, sorry. I didn’t know you liked her that much.”

“Yeah, we like the same music, and the same books-”

“And her eyes sparkle in the bright of the moon like the light of a thousand angels.” He interrupted, barely able to contain his laughter.

She laughed and threw her wand at her friend. “You’re going to pay for that tomorrow in the tournament.”

 

******************************************************************************************************************

******************************************************************************************************************  

 

Nathan Allen took a deep, nerve-settling breath.

He had cruised through the first few rounds of the tournament with just a couple of simple, well-timed spells, but was about to face his best friend in the entire world in the semi-finals.

Sure, Whitney was a great witch who was one of the more talented students at Ilvermorny, but she was no match for him, and he _really_ didn’t want to duel her at all.

They met at the center of one of the narrow, long stages that magically seemed to appear every year when the annual duels started – Nathan knew for a fact that they were actually set up by people and not magic – and were given a few seconds to talk before the round started.

Her shoulder-length bleach-blonde hair bobbed up and down as she walked up to him, her viridian eyes sparkling with the excitement of having won her previous matches.

“Don’t hurt me too badly.” She whispered, embracing him warmly.

“I’ll make sure not to get your face.” He laughed while hugging her back. There was no one else on Earth more important to him than Whitney Egan and her friendship since his early days at Ilvermorny, and he was pretty sure that he was pretty important to her, too.

They separated and walked to opposite ends of the stage and performed the customary – and annoying – ritual of bowing and raising their wands until Professor Vaughn decided to announce that they could begin.

Middle-aged, round-faced, and always smiling, Professor Katherine Vaughn was an expert in Transfiguration, studying under some of the greatest minds in the world.

Rumor has it that everything she owned was actually once a rock she transfigured into something useful. Even her glasses, which enlarged her grey eyes to a point that, in the right light, would make her look like an owl, were rumored to have once been a handful of pebbles.

Baseless, geological rumors aside, she was one of the brightest minds and friendliest of the professors at Ilvermorny, but she tended to take her time with absolutely everything, something that annoyed Nathan because he was always ready to move on to the next thing.

Professor Vaughn raised an arm and dropped it quickly, signifying the start of the duel.

Whitney immediately attacked without warning and nearly caught Nathan off-guard. She aimed high with the first spell, quickly attacked with a second towards his chest, and then jabbed out a quick disarming charm towards his legs. He raised his wand and blocked all three spells with one downward slash – without speaking a word.

The onlooking students “OOooed” as sparks from her flurry of spells descended over the crowd, and the audience realized that none of them had met their mark.

He heard her curse in frustration when the smoke cleared, and smiled to himself.

She must have thought that her sudden, violent attack would surprise him and cause her to gain the upper hand. It was a great strategy – if only his longtime friend had taken it into account that he had made practice of casting protection charms without speaking since his first day at Ilvermorny.

Being sorted into Pukwudgie and not being great at healing made Nathan feel like an outsider in his own House. No one had ever made him feel unwelcome – Whitney made sure of that – but he was desperate to prove that he belonged. So, instead of lamenting his inability to perform simple healing spells, he had made it a prerogative to make sure that he protected those around him so that they would never _need_ to be healed.

Whitney sent another spell his way, this time with more force. Rather than blocking it, Nathan stepped out of the way, letting the silver streak crash maraud into the empty space behind him. She had run out of ideas, too dependent on the failed opening element of surprise, and it was time to end the duel before she caught him with one and caused him to go into the final against Elizabeth with an injury.

Nathan put one hand behind his back and made a large, overtly obnoxious showing by twirling his wand before shouting, “ _Expelliarmous_!”

Whitney easily dove out of the way of the scarlet – and all too common – spell to the edge of the stage, and right into Nathan’s trap.

Without speaking, he switched his want to his left hand, pointed his wand towards her from behind his back and thought _Petrificus Totalus!_

The spell burst from his wand and raced towards his friend, striking Whitney in the center of the chest where her body immediately froze, her limbs locked to her side. On the edge of the stage after diving, her balance waivered and she collapsed off of the stage with a gasp from the crowd.

But there was no crash of her body hitting the floor, as Whitney fell into the surprised arms of a certain Thunderbird witch with a blue streak in her dark hair.

Nathan smiled to himself as he watched his friend fall into the arms of her crush. _Man, I’m good_.

“Winner! Nathan Allen of Pukwudgie!” Professor Vaughn shouted. The crowd clapped politely, clearly disappointed by the lack of a drawn out duel between the two friends from the same house.

“Your final will be – Elizabeth Archer of Horned Serpent and Nathan Allen of Pukwudgie!”

Murmuring broke out in the audience, as Elizabeth stepped onto the stage, her long blonde hair and startling blue eyes giving off a sort of angelic radiance due to her beauty and the predatory look in her eyes.

_Damn. She must have destroyed her first opponents._ Nathan thought.

“Nice trick, Nathan.” She smiled politely. “You’ll have to show me that after I win.”

Elizabeth Archer was the most powerful person in the school; there was no doubt about that. Head Witch of Horned Serpent, many were intimidated by her because she was powerful, beautiful, and smart and any number of other clichés, but Nathan had always liked her. Her mother had been killed in the Second Wizarding War, and she had been raised by her no-maj father, so, despite them only interacting in a competitive sense, he had always understood where her desire to succeed had come from.

They walked to opposite ends of the stage and waited for Professor Vaughn to announce the start of the duel.

 

*****************************************************************************************************************

*****************************************************************************************************************

 

Paris Ware watched her close friend, Elizabeth Archer, walk to the other end of the stage, confident that she would easily beat her final opponent, Nathan Allen, for the second straight year and win the tournament. Nathan was a talented wizard, but no one at the school was strong enough to beat Elizabeth. Paris was the Head Witch of Wampus, but had declined to participate in the tournament this year due to what had happened to her sister. She came to the tournament as an escape and watched her replacement get beaten in the first 10 seconds against Elizabeth, unable to get a single spell off.

“I’m sorry for what happened to your sister.” A voice spoke suddenly from behind her.

“It was an accident.” Paris replied automatically, even though she did not believe it was an accident at all. Keisha was dead, and yet Jake Wilson had miraculously survived despite being right next to her when it happened. He was still in the hospital recovering, but the whole situation just seemed a bit off. 

She turned to see who was speaking and saw that it was Lahiri Pavuluri, one of the older students in Horned Serpent and Elizabeth’s other friend. An Indian-American girl from somewhere in the Midwest, Lahiri was as outgoing as anyone could get and planned everything of importance for Ilvermorny. _I wouldn’t even be surprised if she planned this whole tournament._

Instead of continuing the conversation and asking unwanted and uncomfortable questions about how she felt, Lahiri stepped next to Paris and began paying attention to the impending duel between the “top” witch and wizard at Ilvermorny. Paris immediately felt a pang of gratitude towards the friend of a friend for her tact and was glad that she decided to come out to the tournament.

“Begin!” Professor Vaughn shouted, and the crowd went silent.

Elizabeth attacked first, but Nathan easily deflected the scarlet spell. He was fantastic at casting protection charms without speaking, and it would take more than just a strong spell to break through his defenses.

A pang of sadness ripped through Paris’s chest. She didn’t know that about Nathan on her own. Keisha had told her that when she was first finding out about the different powerful students at the school.

Elizabeth attacked again, but this time added more of a flick to her motion. Nathan blocked it yet again, but this time he took a step backwards. The force of the spell had been enough to push him _through_ the protection charm.

Suddenly, she began shooting multiple spells towards Nathan in a flurry of movement, each one aimed at a different part of his body. Dozens of darting hexes biting at him like flies, as he narrowly ducked, dodged, and deflected each one at the last second.

The attack stopped, and Elizabeth stood in the center of the narrow stage with Nathan on the edge of the end. If one of her spells was powerful enough to knock him off the edge, he would disqualify himself by leaving the platform. Sweat dripped off of his face, and he gritted his teeth, knowing that she had him.

Elizabeth knew she had him beat, too, and was smirking through her sweat. It was just a matter of time until she won the tournament yet again.

But her smirk quickly vanished, as the room rapidly grew ice cold. Paris could see her breath and began shivering as if naked in the snow. She looked to Lahiri, who was now scanning the room for the source of the sudden drop in temperature.

Suddenly, Nathan dropped to his hands and knees and smoke began pouring from around him. Elizabeth, who had been smiling in victory moments earlier, looked horrified, but shouted above the murmuring and confused talking as loud as she could, “ _Protego!_ ”

A bright light exploded from her wand and towards Nathan, who had been completely consumed by the billowing, now emerald, smoke. She instinctively dove off the stage and into the crowd, raising her wand defensively to protect her fellow students, but they all had stopped moving to stare in terror at what the smoke had become.

A colossal skull with a massive snake emerging from its mouth like a tongue continued to rise out of the smoke until it was as large as the ceiling, the emerald glow of the sparkling monstrosity highlighting the stunned faces of the students as they watched in muted horror.

The Dark Mark hovered inside the halls of Ilvermorny.


	4. The Greater Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The appearance of the Dark Mark at Ilvermorny leads to some startling realizations.

**Ilvermorny, MA**

Gasping for breath, Nathan Allen awoke suddenly, desperately trying to remember what exactly had happened in the moments before he had fallen unconscious.

Elizabeth had been on the edge of victory in their duel during Ilvermorny’s annual tournament, while he had been on the edge _literally_. He had been pushed to the end of the stage and had to either jump off and be disqualified or let one of Elizabeth’s abnormally powerful spells hit him – the latter of which was _definitely_ not happening.

Nathan decided he was going to perform an extra showy spell before he stepped off the edge and allowed Elizabeth her much deserved win – _maybe something with fire -_  until, however, someone whispered into his ear words that he had been hearing in his nightmares since his no-maj parents had first told him about his biological parents.

_Morsmordre._

His stomach lurched, and he tried to sit up, but felt a firm hand push him back down into what he now assumed must be a bed in the hospital wing.

“Sit back down, Nathan.” Whitney commanded him, as calm under pressure as ever. Her healing abilities were unmatched and whatever reason she had for making him lie back down was probably a good one. She was the epitome of what made Pukwudgie, well, Pukwudgie.

He coughed and immediately groaned in pain, feeling a sharp, deep pain in his chest. “It feels like someone is pouring lava into my lungs.”

“That might have to do with the smoke from the Dark Mark.” She shined a bright light in his eyes, obviously checking to see if he had a concussion from when he collapsed on the stage.

“So they did nothing to me?” He raised a hand to make sure his vision was completely normal – he might be terrible at healing spells but he _was_ a Pukwudgie after all. However, Whitney snatched it before he could raise it high enough and pushed it back down to his side.

“Will you _quit_ moving?” She rolled her eyes and placed her wand to his temple, “Elizabeth was able to get off a protection spell before whatever it was could hurt you, but I want to make sure that you didn’t do anything major to your head in the fall.”

“Elizabeth protected me?” His heart sank a little. If Elizabeth was able to use a protection charm before whoever it was that cast the Dark Mark attacked him, she must have known what was happening the moment she saw the emerald smoke. “Her mother was killed by a Death Eater, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.” Whitney replied, purposefully not meeting eyes with him by pretending to be extremely interested in the edge of her wand.

“Do we know who it was?” He asked, feeling a hint of anger creep into his voice.

Whitney avoided an answer and instead took her wand away from his head. “It doesn’t matter. She’s heading up a war council in one of the conference rooms now to figure out what to do about the attacks on you and Keisha Ware. Most of the Head Witches and Wizards of the different houses are there, but she avoided inviting any professors.”

“Shouldn’t you be there too?” He questioned, fairly confused at the reason why his friend, and the Head Witch of Pukwudgie, would skip put on such an important meeting.

“Elizabeth is a bit too… _intense_ for my liking.” A smile crept across her face, and he knew exactly what she was implying.

He rolled his eyes. “You’ve got a date with that Thunderbird girl, don’t you?”

Whitney’s slight smile broke into a full-fledged grin. “ _Maybe..._ but on a more serious note, the rumor from Jake Wilson’s recovery is that Keisha was under the Imperius curse before she died,” she waved her wand towards the door and a scarlet spell that Nathan assumed to be _Expelliarmus_ shot from her wand and instantly dissolved into a spray of sparks the moment it got to the doorway due to an enchantment, “And I wanted to make sure that no one tried to finish the job with you.”

“So I’m under house arrest?” He replied drily.

“Medical wing arrest. Just until you recover.” She added.

“I’m fine-” He stood up all at once and immediately collapsed back onto the bed. The room was spinning and his head felt like someone was beating it with a drumstick, but it was the overwhelming nausea that forced him to lie back down.

“You’re _not_ fine, and you won’t leave this room until your concussion symptoms are at a point where you can stand up without falling to the floor. Might as well get comfortable.” She waved a hand dismissively, “Amanda Clark said she’ll update us on what goes down in the so called ‘war council’ once it ends, anyway.”

Nathan smiled at his friend, grateful for everything that she had done for him, and closed his eyes. But the Dark Mark was still burned into his mind, and the talk of Death Eaters and war councils was more than unsettling.

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Amanda Clark had never been in this particular conference room in her time at Ilvermorny so far.

The room was made entirely of stone and had a large, oval stone table in the middle in which different Ilvermorny upperclassman sat in varied distances from one another. The ceilings were tall and some type of spell allowed for natural daylight to flood in from two round windows near the top despite it already being night outside.

Of the two or so dozen students there, several hovered in the back behind their respective House leaders, but the faces that stood out were the more prominent students at Ilvermorny.

Paris Ware, recently murdered first-year Keisha Ware’s sister and Head Witch of Wampus, stood to Elizabeth’s right, while one of Elizabeth’s close friends and fellow Horned Serpent, Lahiri Pavuluri, sat to her left. She noticed two of the other “elite” students at Ilvermorny were not present, Nathan Allen and Whitney Egan, but Nathan had hit his head pretty hard when the Dark Mark had appeared and Whitney was likely taking care of him. Rumor had it that Nathan’s parents were killed by Death Eaters, so he was probably suffering from more than just the physical effects from the attack.

Elizabeth stood at the head of the table, ready to lead and begin the ‘war council’ meeting. Unanimously known as the most powerful witch in the school, Elizabeth tended to be the go-to leader in most situations, although none have been as serious as what happened with the Dark Mark at the tournament. She addressed the two dozen or so Ilvermorny students present for their meeting, “We all know why we’re here.”

Amanda Clark, who was sitting next to fellow Thunderbird and close friend Jake Wilson, felt all the eyes in the room turn from Elizabeth to them.

Jake had recently survived what everyone believed to be a freak accident in which Keisha Ware had been killed and had just recently been able to discuss what had happened on the Quidditch pitch that day, proving that it was no accidents. Expected to be there as two of the top Thunderbird students anyway, Elizabeth had asked Jake to speak about what he experienced in order to drive home the point about how dangerous whatever – or whoever – they faced was.

The room remained silent for a moment, and Amanda realized that she had to encourage Jake to speak. “Jake, tell them what you told Paris and I,” she whispered to her friend.

Jake stood up, but remained looking down at the table. Amanda knew he blamed himself for Keisha’s death and that he believed that he should have been able to save her. There was no way he could have, but it was probably going to take years before he came to terms with it.

Jake began speaking slowly, trying to make sure that he could keep his voice from cracking, something that he could not do when he initially told her when he first recovered.

“Her eyes were glazed over and looking past me, as if I wasn’t there.” He turned to look at Amanda, likely trying to find some sort of calming effect from knowing his close friend was nearby. “Something that I now know is a sign of some variation of the Imperius curse.”

There was a slight gasp from nearly everyone who had not been briefed earlier. The gasps broke into hushed whispers, as those present tried to digest the horrifying information that Jake had just revealed. Amanda made eye-contact with Paris who gave her a wry , understanding smile, and then with Lahiri, who looked away quickly.

“But-” His interjection silenced the murmurs immediately. “She- she broke it. She broke the Imperius curse.” His words hung in the air and sent a chill throughout the room, including Amanda.

A first-year Ilvermorny student who had barely begun her journey into the Wizarding World was strong enough to break one of the unforgivable curses – _What could she have been if she had not been murdered?_

“At the very end, she reached for my wand and cast a spell,” he continued. “A protection charm- _Protego._ She used her last moments to protect me from whoever was using her.” Jake turned to Paris with tears in his eyes, and it felt like he was speaking directly to her. “She used her last moments to save _me._ ”

He stood for a moment, letting those present absorb his words, before quickly and haphazardly sitting back down into his seat and looking down at the table uncomfortably.

Elizabeth stood up as he sat down, “Thank you, Jake.”

Her powerful gaze swept across everyone in the room. “This is what we’re up against. An enemy bold enough to murder an innocent, young girl in broad daylight and attack one of our strongest within the castle walls while surrounded by over half the school.”

“We are not dealing with a prankster, a criminal, or lone-wolf. This is someone who uses the Dark Mark to inspire fear. We must stop them at all costs. Because every single person in this castle is in danger – and whoever this was is likely not doing this alone.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda asked, knowing that Elizabeth wanted a cue to continue her speech.

Instead, Paris answered. “You cannot come into Ilvermorny without permission, correct? Someone had to give the attacker permission to come into the school, as well as let them know where the most students were at that exact moment. They blended in with the crowd, so it had to be planned in advance.”

“And I believe,” Elizabeth interrupted, “that whoever it was targeted Nathan on purpose.”

Paris nodded and continued, “Meaning that it had to be someone who knew that Elizabeth and Nathan were the most likely to be in the final. Someone who has been at Ilvermorny long enough to remember previous tournaments, but also has the firsthand knowledge that Elizabeth and Nathan are the two most talented students.

Jake squirmed uncomfortably in his seat and then spoke quietly, but just loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. “So….what you’re saying is that it’s likely someone in this room.”

“Who in here would be willing to put the whole school in danger like that? It’s insane!” Amanda blurted out in shock.

Her question was met with a loud pop, as someone disapparated from the room.

Elizabeth pulled out her wand and rushed out the door. Jake soon followed suit.

Confused, Amanda scanned the room as well, and suddenly realized what was wrong.

Lahiri was gone.

*****************************************************************************************************

 

Jake Wilson rushed out of the room behind Elizabeth, his wand ready to attack any unseen enemies that might come their way. He watched as Lahiri began to act suspiciously during the meeting and was prepared the moment she disapparated. He might have failed Keisha, but he would _not_ let these people get the better of him again.

“Where are we going?” He asked Elizabeth, still following her closely.

“If Lahiri wants to escape the castle, she’ll go back to her room before she leaves to grab her things.” She answered.

They took a turn down a hallway he had never seen before and ended up in front of a large statue of a horned snake made out of marble, which Jake assumed must be the entrance to the Horned Serpent dorms.

The snake hissed out a few words he could not make out, but Elizabeth just growled, “Move!” And the statue jumped out of the way to allow the pair into the doorway.

He tried to catch a glimpse of what the Horned Serpent dorms looked like, but he only caught what looked like a large marble fountain before Elizabeth turned into a stairway and disappeared.

An alarm began ringing as he charged after her up the stairs, and he realized it must be because he was a Thunderbird boy going into the Horned Serpent girl’s dorm without permission.

“ _Stupefy!”_ Elizabeth shouted as they rounded the corner. A sickening thud revealed that her spell must have met its mark.

Jake rushed over to Elizabeth, who was already standing over Lahiri.

“Please….” Lahiri gasped through tears. “They told me if I didn’t help they would kill my family. They have my family.”

“Where do they have your family?” Jake asked, his concern growing for her.

Lahiri had always been nice to everyone, even if she was a bit obnoxiously outgoing sometimes. For her to betray the school – her friends included – made no sense. Jake was elated to hear that she only aided the attacker because her family was in danger.

“My…my house.” She said quietly, her eyes imploring him to help. “Please.”

“Tell us who sent you.” Elizabeth asked coldly, ignoring her sobbing friend. Paris, who must have known how to get to the Horned Serpent dorms as one of Elizabeth’s close friends, and another Wampus, Adam Whitfield, finally caught up to the pair and entered the room. Their wands were raised as well, making sure that no one snuck up on them from behind.

“I don’t know. I-” Lahiri choked up and could clearly barely hold it together. She was unbelievably scared and worried, and Jake just felt horribly sorry for her. Forced to choose between the safety of everyone at the school and her family? What kind of sick person are they actually dealing with?

Elizabeth placed her wand to Lahiri’s neck. “Tell me who you were working with, or I will make you tell me.”

“I don’t know! I swear, I don’t-” She began crying uncontrollably again.

Adam stepped forward proudly and held up a vial of liquid. “I went to the potions classroom and brought some Veritaserum just in case.”

“No, they’ll kill my family!” Lahiri begged, her eyes darting from person to person, looking for some sort of savior.

Elizabeth sighed. “Lahiri. You’re my friend, and I love you dearly...”

She smiled through her tears, but it faded quickly, as Paris avoided eye contact and Lahiri realized what was coming next.

“But there are people depending on me and everyone is in danger. Your family is not worth more than the lives of everyone at this school. This if for the Greater Good.” Elizabeth finished coldly. “Give it to her, Adam.”

Adam nodded in agreement, reached down, held Lahiri’s mouth open, and began pouring the potion into her mouth.

  
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Nathan Allen rolled out of his small bed in Ilvermorny's hospital wing and stood up, resisting the urge to let out a groan of pain and collapse back onto the bed.

The concussion was still a problem, but he could not – and would not – continue to lie down in bed and do nothing after what had transpired earlier that night.

Jake and Amanda had told them in full detail of what happened with Elizabeth and Lahiri during and after the “war council,” and, while Amanda, Jake, and Whitney seemed horrified, Nathan was furious.

  
Still in complete darkness, he fumbled his way to the small wooden table next to his bed and searched for his wand. His nerves calmed the moment that his fingers wrapped their way around the laurel handle. 

  
_“Lumos Maxima.”_  He spoke quietly, hoping to not wake any other patients.  
A bright light emerged from the tip of his wand, illuminating the room and temporarily blinding him. The light caused his head to explode with pain once again, but he ignored it and continued to walk to the door.

  
Once his vision cleared, he checked to make sure he had his wand again, and then made his way down the hallway as quietly as possible, hoping no one would hear him and make him go back to his room.

   
"Where are you going?" An annoyed female voice spoke from behind him.

He turned in the dimming wand light to see Elizabeth Archer walking towards him, lowering her wand. She must have been patrolling the halls and looking for anything suspicious.

  
"To clean up your mess." He replied bitterly.

  
Elizabeth looked taken aback by his pointed response. He didn't mean for the remark to sound angry – but he was. 

  
"I did what was best for the most people. For the greater good.” She answered firmly.

Nathan nearly groaned aloud. He hated the greater good. The greater good had been the cause of a ridiculous number of evil things since the beginning of time. The greater good is what horrible people used to justify their actions.

  
"No. You took the  _easiest_  option." He replied coldly.

  
"It was the only option that was in front of me." She asserted, glaring at him through the light of his wand.

  
"They look to you as a leader. Everyone looks to you as a leader." He snapped, but softened his voice before speaking again. "There is  _always_  another option."

Elizabeth’s glare turned into surprise. Being the strongest witch in the school meant that there was rarely anyone who called her so openly. It was rude of him to confront her in this way, but she  _forced_ Lahiri to reveal useless information that would likely lead to the massacre of her family. They could have found out that the attacker was an actual Death Eater another way.

He had to use Elizabeth’s shock to his advantage and try and get his point across to her before she doubled-down on what she perceived to be the right move and shut him out. He couldn’t let her get blinded by the greater good.

  
Nathan made sure to keep every bit of the anger that he felt for what Elizabeth did from boiling over into his voice. "That's what makes us different from the Death Eaters, Elizabeth. That's what makes us  _better_."

She needed to know how messed up her actions actually were. How reminiscent they were of tyrants, dictators, and Dark Wizards all throughout history. How it seemed normal at first and then spiraled into murdering no-maj and halfbloods. It was okay with him if she hated him. 

  
Now it was Nathan’s turn to be surprised. Elizabeth sighed, and her face softened – with what looked like genuine regret. "You’re right.”

She pulled out her wand. “But I'm going with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologize if it gets confusing as to which characters look like what. I wanted them to be rather ambiguous and let you pretty much decide what they look like in your head, because my descriptions of the way people look feel clunky. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy, feel free to leave comments and suggestions below!
> 
> \- Taylor

**Author's Note:**

> With J.K. Rowling releasing Magic in North America and the houses of Ilvermorny, I decided it was time for a long-form American Wizarding World story that revolves around Ilvermorny and the wizards and witches (and no-maj) of the United States. 
> 
> Please leave kudos, comments, suggestions, whatever, you know the drill. I plan to update once or twice a week with at least 3,000 words each time, outside of the prologue. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Taylor


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